The XCOM Thread: HOW DOES SNEK KICK DOOR?!

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > The XCOM Thread: HOW DOES SNEK KICK DOOR?!

Peewi: Nov 8, 2012

Anyone trying out modding and know Unreal script? I've added a country, but I haven't been able to add custom name lists for it so far.

The Iron Rose posted:

You have to manually install the redistributables from the binaries folder in the SDK

To use the Unreal Editor you also need to tell the SDK where the game and the SDK itself are installed. There's a quickstart PDF with instructions in the documentation folder.

# ? Feb 7, 2016 05:18

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# ? May 22, 2024 00:55

redreader: Nov 2, 2009; I am the coolest person ever with my pirate chalice. Seriously.; Dinosaur Gum

Jabor posted:

Lightning Hands is a special ability, it gets its own slot on the toolbar, and it has a cooldown. Using that ability gives you a pistol shot without spending any actions. Quick Draw just means that when you shoot your pistol (which still costs an action, like shooting any other weapon), it doesn't end your turn unless you're out of actions. So you can shoot your pistol as your first action, then shoot your pistol again as your second action, or throw a grenade, or activate another ability, or whatever.

Lightning Hands is the one that will let you shoot both your pistol and your rifle in the same turn. You need to shoot the pistol first (using Lightning Hands, not the regular "shoot pistol"), and then shoot the rifle. (Or shoot with the pistol twice more. That works too.)

Thank you so much! I didn't realise this at all! I really appreciate that write up. I was just thinking it would magically trigger or something

# ? Feb 7, 2016 05:19

Erata: May 11, 2009; Lipstick Apathy

Pomp posted:

Turn Timers and why this game is not a strategy title.
No, I dont think the game is too hard.

No, I'm not going to play on recruit, so dont bother.

The turn limit issue has nothing to do with difficulty. Theres no strategy variety. You cant ♥♥♥♥ing use any strategy. Your only viable strategy is GOTTA GO FAST SANIC GOGOGOGO OH ♥♥♥♥ I LOST A GUY OH WELL GOTTA GO FAST GOTTA GO FAST!

Who at Fireaxis thought putting 15 enemies on a tiny map, giving the player 4-6 soldiers, and making them move 4 turns worth of distance + 1 turn of hacking and forcing them to complete in 8 turns was a good idea.

No ambushes. No sniping. No planning. Nothing.

Run to the objective. If you get ♥♥♥♥ed up, reload. Thats this game. Thats all this ♥♥♥♥ is.

No, I dont think combat is too difficult. Its about the same as EW with long war. Its pretty nice.

The issue is, the game is balanced around a dumbass timecap, so even if you DID mod the turn timer out, the game instantly because laughably easy and stupid.

Its like Fireaxis decided that using any semblance of actual military tactics was dumb, and because we are "guerillas" we should do THE EXACT OPPOSITE of insurgent warfare and run around in the open like dummies.

Sorry gents, just because you are freedom fighters, doesnt mean you have to constantly and blatantly put yourself into ignorant situations where you have a very confined amount of time to reach your objectives, placing your soldiers into unnecessary danger.

In fact, you'd think Super Commander McBadass wouldnt ♥♥♥♥ing take on missions which are inherently stupid and completely imbalanced risk vs reward.

How is it so difficult to defeat an alien army when they just ♥♥♥♥ing stand around waiting to be shot on every single map until you break concealment, instantly alerting all enemies within 2 miles of your presence, giving them a nice window to run behind you and gank your soldiers?

Oh whats that you say? Overwatch? Protect your flank?

LOL GOTTA GO FAST SANIC ONLY HAS 3 TURNS LEFT. SEE YA ROOKIE!

Come on guys. Tedium and forced perma death arent difficulty. They are tedium.

It makes sense... If you think about it... Like if you begin by ignoring the game's entire narrative and Xcom's classic underdog theme. That's a good place to write an entire Steam review around. I hope there are more like that floating around on the storepage.

# ? Feb 7, 2016 05:20

Alkydere: Jun 7, 2010; Capitol: A building or complex of buildings in which any legislature meets.
Capital: A city designated as a legislative seat by the government or some other authority, often the city in which the government is located; otherwise the most important city within a country or a subdivision of it.

FairGame posted:

I had a specialist get two of these bonuses early on.

Blacksite was hilarious since she had a 90% chance to take over mechs, turrets, etc.

She also got a bonus "everyone in the squad gets all their turns back" that allowed me to wipe out three packs in one turn.

...then she got murdered a month later by a stun lancer who came out of nowhere but apparently had shieldbearer shields up and just shrugged off all my over watch.

I can't bring myself to use other specialists. None of them compare.

...I really need to do more hacking Specialists because the one kinda-mixed dude I have is a lifesaver so many times. It's amazing just being able to shut down a Heavy MEC or a Sectopod for 2 turns on a whim and clean up everyone around them. Meanwhile, medic Specs are goddamned amazing for damage control. Being able to heal people anywhere on the map and using only a single action point so you can move/shoot/overwatch or heal a second person afterwards is so hilariously good.

# ? Feb 7, 2016 05:20

AlternateAccount: Apr 25, 2005; FYGM

I'd be okay with the timer for a mission not really starting until you break concealment on a lot of them where that makes sense. Ones where you're trying to stop ADVENT from killing a data mine or something wouldn't work. But if you can ghost your way into where a VIP is stored, maybe the timer doesn't start until you hit the terminal that opens the door and alerts them.
I am fine with the timers, but I think if players were given a little bit of leeway in kicking off the timer, they'd bitch less and it would be more internally consistent.

# ? Feb 7, 2016 05:21

Randarkman: Jul 18, 2011

Tae posted:

Those are steam comments. They have hearts as censors.

Well, that makes me feel dumb.

# ? Feb 7, 2016 05:22

TASTE THE PAIN!!: May 18, 2004

Just realized the geoscape ticks a minute for every second you idle there.

:xcom:

# ? Feb 7, 2016 05:23

Pomp: Apr 3, 2012; by Fluffdaddy

steam is people being bad at dead rising all over again :allears:

# ? Feb 7, 2016 05:23

Space Hamlet: Aug 24, 2009; not listening
not listening

Lacking "tactical variety" is a strange complaint about a sequel to a game that heavily encouraged moving everyone in an overwatch conga line

# ? Feb 7, 2016 05:24

Red Mundus: Oct 22, 2010

Fun fact that just saved me grenadier's life: Moving through water puts out units that are on fire! Thank you x-com for that much needed reprieve.

# ? Feb 7, 2016 05:25

Exposure: Apr 4, 2014

Lowen SoDium posted:

But anyways, on the Steam Discussion forums I was surprised to see how many people are complaining so vocally about how much they hate the game and how timers have ruined it. I had one VIP rescue mission where my last guy made it out on the last turn and had to dash past several enemies to make it. Every other mission I have had, the timers have encouraged me to move along but rarely made me feel too rushed. Are timers really causing people that much trouble?

So much so that XCOM 2's actually getting pretty close to getting a "Mixed" review tag from not recommended reviews on Steam. Like I wasn't expecting the user score to match the "critical" score, considering the performance issues, but man I'm surprised how many people utterly loath the timed missions considering how the noted group of hardcore difficulty lovers known as professionally-paid game reviewers were liking XCOM 2's usage of them.

# ? Feb 7, 2016 05:25

The Duggler: Feb 20, 2011; I do not hear you, I do not see you, I will not let you get into the Duggler's head with your bring-downs.

When a soldier is knocked unconscious, are they just out for the rest of the mission? I didn't have a chance to get over to them with a medkit or anything to see if I could wake them up.

Just curious

# ? Feb 7, 2016 05:28

LibbyM: Dec 7, 2011

Space Hamlet posted:

Lacking "tactical variety" is a strange complaint about a sequel to a game that heavily encouraged moving everyone in an overwatch conga line

I want to preface this by saying I'm not making GBS threads on everyone who doesn't like the turn timers or anything, I was pretty nervous about them before I started too.
But whenever a hard game comes out and there's a way in which it's hard that people don't like there are ALWAYS some people who try and find a way to say they don't like it that somehow puts them at a high ground. They can't admit they don't like it because it's too hard, it's always something completely ridiculous like "Lacking tactical diversity" because it preserves their ego.

# ? Feb 7, 2016 05:28

CuddleCryptid: Jan 11, 2013; Things could be going better

Just finished the game on Veteran, now to Copperman Commander and see how it goes.

The whole timer debate is dumb. Some missions have you cutting it close, but if you are only halfway across the map then you need to stop playing overwatch conga and GO. This isn't a game for the faint of heart, and that's why new soldiers aren't as garbage as they used to be.

# ? Feb 7, 2016 05:28

K8.0: Feb 26, 2004; Her Majesty's 56th Regiment of Foot

Space Hamlet posted:

Lacking "tactical variety" is a strange complaint about a sequel to a game that heavily encouraged moving everyone in an overwatch conga line

You fix bad core mechanics by entirely replacing them, not with lovely bandaids.

# ? Feb 7, 2016 05:29

LightWarden: Mar 18, 2007; Lander county's safe as heaven,
despite all the strife and boilin',
Tin Star,
Oh how she's an icon of the eastern west,
But now the time has come to end our song,
of the Tin Star, the Tin Star!

The Duggler posted:

When a soldier is knocked unconscious, are they just out for the rest of the mission? I didn't have a chance to get over to them with a medkit or anything to see if I could wake them up.

Just curious

Unless you have a specialist with Revival Protocol or Restoration, yes, the unit is down for the mission. If it's a "kill all aliens" mission then you juts have to make sure you don't accidentally blow up your soldier. If it's an evac mission then someone will have to carry your unconscious soldier or that soldier will be left behind.

# ? Feb 7, 2016 05:30

The Duggler: Feb 20, 2011; I do not hear you, I do not see you, I will not let you get into the Duggler's head with your bring-downs.

LightWarden posted:

Unless you have a specialist with Revival Protocol or Restoration, yes, the unit is down for the mission. If it's a "kill all aliens" mission then you juts have to make sure you don't accidentally blow up your soldier. If it's an evac mission then someone will have to carry your unconscious soldier or that soldier will be left behind.

Good info, thanks

# ? Feb 7, 2016 05:32

SpookyLizard: Feb 17, 2009

redreader posted:

That's what I do! Then when I click it says 'fire gun x % chance'. Is it maybe left click for sword or right click for gun?

Also, is there a way to summon the skyranger that you can unlock? I saw beaglerush use it, but don't know how to call an evac.

edit: oooohhhh lightning hands has a cooldown. That makes a lot more sense.

Don't click the enemy, right click to move.

# ? Feb 7, 2016 05:33

Panzeh: Nov 27, 2006; "..The high ground"

K8.0 posted:

You fix bad core mechanics by entirely replacing them, not with lovely bandaids.

Most of the things that would've "fixed" it would have harmed any kind of aggression in gameplay further or simply been arbitrary, moreso than the clock.

# ? Feb 7, 2016 05:33

Broken Cog: Dec 29, 2009; We're all friends here

They should just bump up the "easy" mission timers to 10 instead of 8, because you can seriously get missions that are borderline impossible with the limited tools you have available at the time.

When you get further into the game, it becomes much easier to finish missions within the time frame.

# ? Feb 7, 2016 05:34

Feels Villeneuve: Oct 7, 2007; Setter is Better.

Turn limits are, by a significant margin, the best change about this game.

# ? Feb 7, 2016 05:34

Strong Sauce: Jul 2, 2003; You know I am not really your father.

How far can beserkers move? My entire team has to load into one to even get a chance at taking one down. I got dragged into this mission before I could upgrade my shotgun/rifles above the basic ones.

# ? Feb 7, 2016 05:36

Alkydere: Jun 7, 2010; Capitol: A building or complex of buildings in which any legislature meets.
Capital: A city designated as a legislative seat by the government or some other authority, often the city in which the government is located; otherwise the most important city within a country or a subdivision of it.

AlternateAccount posted:

I'd be okay with the timer for a mission not really starting until you break concealment on a lot of them where that makes sense. Ones where you're trying to stop ADVENT from killing a data mine or something wouldn't work. But if you can ghost your way into where a VIP is stored, maybe the timer doesn't start until you hit the terminal that opens the door and alerts them.
I am fine with the timers, but I think if players were given a little bit of leeway in kicking off the timer, they'd bitch less and it would be more internally consistent.

The ones with the self-destructing crates are the worst for "why is this timer already starting?" I mean, the Advent are just walking around like it's nothing, why is one of their crates set to detonate just because?

# ? Feb 7, 2016 05:36

MadJackMcJack: Jun 10, 2009

RBA Starblade posted:

When does hacking start to become useful, because a 50% chance to buff every enemy in a mission doesn't seem worth a 50% to turn off a scanner and a whole 1% to get your actions back.

If you take Haywire Protocol, you can hack robotic enemies. Having a Sectopod stunned for 2 turns is great, and taking over turrets is always good times.

Plus, once you start getting better Gremlins, hacking becomes a lot easier. Also, bring along a Skulljack, as it gives a bonus to hacking skill.

Fister Roboto posted:

Just failed a mission because I guess my specialist decided he couldn't remote hack anymore. Do you need LOS on the terminal or something?

Yes, you do. Thankfully, there's a little trick to getting LOS on stuff (it's grenades)

# ? Feb 7, 2016 05:37

The Duggler: Feb 20, 2011; I do not hear you, I do not see you, I will not let you get into the Duggler's head with your bring-downs.

Hard is good, I like the game forcing me to move otherwise I'd just be slowly crawling across the maps every time out. You are almost always cutting it close, but it never feels unfair

# ? Feb 7, 2016 05:37

Alkydere: Jun 7, 2010; Capitol: A building or complex of buildings in which any legislature meets.
Capital: A city designated as a legislative seat by the government or some other authority, often the city in which the government is located; otherwise the most important city within a country or a subdivision of it.

DreamShipWrecked posted:

Just finished the game on Veteran, now to Copperman Commander and see how it goes.

The whole timer debate is dumb. Some missions have you cutting it close, but if you are only halfway across the map then you need to stop playing overwatch conga and GO. This isn't a game for the faint of heart, and that's why new soldiers aren't as garbage as they used to be.

Please tell me there's Second Wave options! Pleeeease say yes! I haven't heard anything about them, so I hope they're there.

# ? Feb 7, 2016 05:38

Space Hamlet: Aug 24, 2009; not listening
not listening

Alkydere posted:

The ones with the self-destructing crates are the worst for "why is this timer already starting?" I mean, the Advent are just walking around like it's nothing, why is one of their crates set to detonate just because?

Maybe they saw the giant VTOL fly overhead and land somewhere nearby

# ? Feb 7, 2016 05:38

MadJackMcJack: Jun 10, 2009

Strong Sauce posted:

How far can beserkers move? My entire team has to load into one to even get a chance at taking one down. I got dragged into this mission before I could upgrade my shotgun/rifles above the basic ones.

Very far. I mind controlled one on a retaliation mission and it could dash across almost the entire map :stare:

# ? Feb 7, 2016 05:38

fspades: Jun 3, 2013; by R. Guyovich

The timers are excellent. They create very tense situations and they require you to plan your moves more carefully, not less. Any feature that does that in a strategy game is a good idea.

# ? Feb 7, 2016 05:39

AlternateAccount: Apr 25, 2005; FYGM

Alkydere posted:

The ones with the self-destructing crates are the worst for "why is this timer already starting?" I mean, the Advent are just walking around like it's nothing, why is one of their crates set to detonate just because?

Yeah. I would enjoy the option of either sneaking to the objective and fighting our way out or blasting our way in, etc. Maybe some missions just become really easy and straightforward if you sneak in, grab the thing and then extract out from popping smoke while under fire.

# ? Feb 7, 2016 05:40

Space Hamlet: Aug 24, 2009; not listening
not listening

The real problem in this game compared to EU is that the writing is incredibly sloppy. Like, high school level. Look at this clunker:

"The obvious question, why not simply use the ADVENT weapons directly, was discovered early on by resistance forces in the field. Some years ago, the aliens began integrating a sort of genetic-verification technology into their weapons that prevents them from functioning by any species whose DNA has not been pre-encoded."

I guess academic publishing isn't really a thing in this world, so maybe Tygan hasn't written anything in decades and it's just language drift

# ? Feb 7, 2016 05:41

AlternateAccount: Apr 25, 2005; FYGM

MadJackMcJack posted:

Very far. I mind controlled one on a retaliation mission and it could dash across almost the entire map

Preeeeetty sure if you get them good and pissed, they'll attack anyone nearby, including other ADVENT. I've gotten this to work exactly once so far.

# ? Feb 7, 2016 05:41

Panzeh: Nov 27, 2006; "..The high ground"

AlternateAccount posted:

Yeah. I would enjoy the option of either sneaking to the objective and fighting our way out or blasting our way in, etc. Maybe some missions just become really easy and straightforward if you sneak in, grab the thing and then extract out from popping smoke while under fire.

I don't think this game is really that much of a stealth game.

# ? Feb 7, 2016 05:42

The Duchess Smackarse: May 8, 2012; by Lowtax

I fought my first codex earlier. I triggered it during my first avenger defense mission. In the middle of fighting my first berserker.

:xcom:

^^ Yeah once they have the 'enraged' status they'll attack the closest target always, from what i've experienced.

# ? Feb 7, 2016 05:42

Goatse James Bond: Mar 28, 2010; If you see me posting please remind me that I have Charlie Work in the reports forum to do instead

The Duggler posted:

When a soldier is knocked unconscious, are they just out for the rest of the mission? I didn't have a chance to get over to them with a medkit or anything to see if I could wake them up.

Just curious

Yes, but if it's an evac mission you can still have somebody carry them to the evac.

# ? Feb 7, 2016 05:44

Alkydere: Jun 7, 2010; Capitol: A building or complex of buildings in which any legislature meets.
Capital: A city designated as a legislative seat by the government or some other authority, often the city in which the government is located; otherwise the most important city within a country or a subdivision of it.

Space Hamlet posted:

Maybe they saw the giant VTOL fly overhead and land somewhere nearby

I dunno why, no one else seems to notice Firebrand. :v:

# ? Feb 7, 2016 05:44

Maluco Marinero: Jan 18, 2001; Damn that's a
fine elephant.

K8.0 posted:

You fix bad core mechanics by entirely replacing them, not with lovely bandaids.

That's concealment, and it's far from a lovely band aid. Combined with all the extra tools you have, Phantom, Re-conceal, gremlin scanning, if you can't scope out the lay of the land and move across it with relative confidence you're not using everything that's available to you.

# ? Feb 7, 2016 05:47

K8.0: Feb 26, 2004; Her Majesty's 56th Regiment of Foot

Panzeh posted:

Most of the things that would've "fixed" it would have harmed any kind of aggression in gameplay further or simply been arbitrary, moreso than the clock.

That's my point. The entire design of the combat system is trash and should have been thrown out. They could have made a game that was both deeper and more cinematic by moving away from discrete turns to a system where actions take time, and away from a cover system with bonuses/penalties to having actual projectiles and collision detection, but they just made more of the same crap. I really wanted to like the first game and I want to like this one, but the mechanics are just... bad.

The original xcom forced you to be aggressive by making the aliens better than you, so if you got in "fair" fights you just lost because the aliens had superior vision, accuracy, damage, numbers, health, psionics, etc. You had to control situations, not just run through particular pieces of cover in the order the mission designer intended. The game had innumerable flaws, but that was the core of why people enjoyed it - it was an actual strategy game (at least until you figured out how to cheese it), where modern Xcom is ultimately just a puzzle game where you can't see the puzzle ahead of time.

# ? Feb 7, 2016 05:47

Cyclomatic: May 29, 2012; "I'm past caring about what might be lost by letting alphabet soups monitor every last piece of communication between every human being on the planet."

I unironically love Big Brother.

Space Hamlet posted:

The real problem in this game compared to EU is that the writing is incredibly sloppy. Like, high school level. Look at this clunker:

"The obvious question, why not simply use the ADVENT weapons directly, was discovered early on by resistance forces in the field. Some years ago, the aliens began integrating a sort of genetic-verification technology into their weapons that prevents them from functioning by any species whose DNA has not been pre-encoded."

I guess academic publishing isn't really a thing in this world, so maybe Tygan hasn't written anything in decades and it's just language drift

Since you can easily get the point being made, it is clearly not suitable for academic publication.

# ? Feb 7, 2016 05:48

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# ? May 22, 2024 00:55

Vib Rib: Jul 23, 2007; God damn this shit is
fuckin' re-dic-a-liss
🍖🍖😛🍖🍖

For people who might like to enjoy the endgame (or the game at large) a bit longer, there's a mod I might want to try on a second playthrough: it turns off the avatar project clock.

Obviously the entire thrust of the strategic layer is heavily built around this so yes, it's very much a cheat, but hell, I figure anything goes if you want to slow ride and just enjoy the battles.

# ? Feb 7, 2016 05:48

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